Sinkhole Swallows 3 Vehicles in Chicago Neighborhood

A Chicago neighborhood was left stunned after hours of heavy rain resulted in a large sinkhole in the middle of the road that swallowed a number of cars.

At around 5 a.m. Thursday morning a sinkhole opened up in Chicago’s South Deering neighborhood on the 9600 block on South Houston Avenue.

When emergency crews arrived they found two cars had been swallowed by the hole and one man was in one of the vehicles driving by when the ground opened. The man was rescued and taken to Northwestern memorial Hospital. His father told reporters his son will be okay.

Within 30 minutes the sinkhole had nearly doubled in size and a third car had fallen in. A fourth car was narrowly towed just before it too fell in. When the sinkhole finally stopped expanding it was approximately 40 feet across and 10 feet deep.

About 5 inches of rain fell in Chicago overnight and a spokesman for the Water Department said the sinkhole may have opened after the cast iron pipe, which dates back to 1915, was disturbed by the immense rain.